We've got some forum related stuff in the works. Dont even have a clue how to address "enticing the old missing people to post again" bit.

Honestly all we can do is provide a place like this, it takes people to post. Some of the stuff we're working on will tear down the wall between the main site and the forums and make discussion a larger part of things

Need to promote the forums more if people are visiting the front page. Either that or entice some of the old missing people to start posting more. I've found myself coming here less and less lately from lack of new topics.

I'm not sure how you can exactly entice people to post more new topics. Over time I have found that most threads I start don't get many replies (if any), so clearly a lot of people here aren't interested in the same things I am and that makes me less likely to start new posts these days.

For the last month or so Firefox has been convinced that GamingTrend was unsafe and hacked. I, and I'm sure other members of the community, didn't come back until Firefox stopped giving the red "WARNING" page. I think it switched back to normal viewing less than a week ago.

For the last month or so Firefox has been convinced that GamingTrend was unsafe and hacked. I, and I'm sure other members of the community, didn't come back until Firefox stopped giving the red "WARNING" page. I think it switched back to normal viewing less than a week ago.

Given the amount of time, effort, and money I and others put into this place, posts like this just break my heart. I really don't know what to do other than more - write more reviews, write more articles, write more news. We've got big plans for 2013 and it's my hope that folks take a moment to see it. Honestly, the forums baffle the hell out of me. For instance, when we post up more videos than GameTrailers.com and then somebody comes in the next day and links to some other site rather than taking a second to look at the work we put in, it just stings. When it happens nearly all of the time it just makes me completely confused. I'd gladly take suggestions on how to make it better.

Given the amount of time, effort, and money I and others put into this place, posts like this just break my heart. I really don't know what to do other than more - write more reviews, write more articles, write more news. We've got big plans for 2013 and it's my hope that folks take a moment to see it. Honestly, the forums baffle the hell out of me. For instance, when we post up more videos than GameTrailers.com and then somebody comes in the next day and links to some other site rather than taking a second to look at the work we put in, it just stings. When it happens nearly all of the time it just makes me completely confused. I'd gladly take suggestions on how to make it better.

I think we have had that discussion not that long ago? As others have pointed out as well, others do what GT does, and unfortunately to my mind, better. If you are asking why, I do think it has to do with, as I also mentioned previously, to me the frontpage has no soul whatsoever. Its just a mashing of news articles that I can find anywhere on the net. Granted, most of the reason is just that I started viewing RPS a while ago, and that has just stuck. I find that they are quite good journalists whose writing I really like, but then again, I actually havent read a frontpage on GT in over a year.

As I also mentioned sometime ago in another post, GT has become another of the 7-10 score sites, where you pretty much never go below a 7 in reviewing a game, and thats a shame, since the scale is 1-10! I know last time you responded you thought you had a 60 something somewhere, but hey, thats not the point. The point is the scoring doesn't matter when you do it like this - its just noise without any meaningful disctinction. (EDIT: Ha, I just saw the two 60+ reviews on the frontpage now!)As I also pointed out, I have no idea what GT stands for right now, if anything. For lack of better words, to me the site's frontpage lacks personality, so I never go there.

Looking at the posting stats though, it doesnt look good. 2500 posts vs 5000 last years december? The forum activity IS declining.

Given the amount of time, effort, and money I and others put into this place, posts like this just break my heart. I really don't know what to do other than more - write more reviews, write more articles, write more news. We've got big plans for 2013 and it's my hope that folks take a moment to see it. Honestly, the forums baffle the hell out of me. For instance, when we post up more videos than GameTrailers.com and then somebody comes in the next day and links to some other site rather than taking a second to look at the work we put in, it just stings. When it happens nearly all of the time it just makes me completely confused. I'd gladly take suggestions on how to make it better.

th'FOOL mentioned that Front Page traffic is steadily climbing - which to me says you ARE doing something right. What it comes down to is I think that the Front Page and the Forum are still two very distinct and separate groups. It's been shown several times here that the forum-goers rarely read the frontpage, and I think it's because we are an older demographic who have been gaming, and looking at gaming webpages, for years. We are entrenched in our ways. I'd been using places like IGN before GamingTrend existed. It's hard to break those cycles. So I'd be curious to see the stats on who is reading the front page, and where they are coming from. Are they younger gamers, interested by the video coverage? Are they gamers closer to our middle ages who just stumble upon the page and decide to keep coming back? The forums definitely give a very coloured view, and I don't think it should take away the great work that is being put on the front page. I can appreciate that it must be frustrating since we are the vocal part of the Gaming Trend community - but we are far from the only people making use of the website. The others simply might not see the forums as a place to put comments if they just read a couple of reviews a month, or watch a few videos.

Which is why I'm curious to see how the further integration plans that you have for the Front Page and the forums will go - will it bridge the gap? I'm not so sure, simply because I have no clue on the type of people that read the front page (and I'm guessing there is no real way to tell?). Will that group and the forum-goers mesh? Or will there be a clash? But it is definitely worth trying, just to see.

It's been shown several times here that the forum-goers rarely read the frontpage, and I think it's because we are an older demographic who have been gaming, and looking at gaming webpages, for years. We are entrenched in our ways.

Also keep in mind that lots of us in this community have been together now for damn near 10 years (crazy). This is both a blessing (I love this place and consider GT my online family) and a curse (we're not as accepting of new folks as we need to be because we're set in our ways and know each other pretty well).

I know I don't post as much anymore simply because gaming as a hobby is starting to pass me by. Kids + job = very little gaming time. Add in the fact that the slow death of the JRPG means that there are very few games that interest me anymore, and I simply don't care about being as informed on the industry as I once was.

I still don't know why you got rid of the GT logo,were you being sued or something?

A few reasons. We wanted to get away from the 'GT' thing since GameTrailers had pretty much co-opted it, but we also wanted a more timeless brand, and the old logo was very dated design-wise. The old logo was also VERY difficult to design around and didn't transfer very well to other media. The site redesign carried with it the rebranding as a step in a new direction for the site.

Given the amount of time, effort, and money I and others put into this place, posts like this just break my heart. I really don't know what to do other than more - write more reviews, write more articles, write more news. We've got big plans for 2013 and it's my hope that folks take a moment to see it. Honestly, the forums baffle the hell out of me. For instance, when we post up more videos than GameTrailers.com and then somebody comes in the next day and links to some other site rather than taking a second to look at the work we put in, it just stings. When it happens nearly all of the time it just makes me completely confused. I'd gladly take suggestions on how to make it better.

I think we have had that discussion not that long ago? As others have pointed out as well, others do what GT does, and unfortunately to my mind, better. If you are asking why, I do think it has to do with, as I also mentioned previously, to me the frontpage has no soul whatsoever. Its just a mashing of news articles that I can find anywhere on the net. Granted, most of the reason is just that I started viewing RPS a while ago, and that has just stuck. I find that they are quite good journalists whose writing I really like, but then again, I actually havent read a frontpage on GT in over a year.

As I also mentioned sometime ago in another post, GT has become another of the 7-10 score sites, where you pretty much never go below a 7 in reviewing a game, and thats a shame, since the scale is 1-10! I know last time you responded you thought you had a 60 something somewhere, but hey, thats not the point. The point is the scoring doesn't matter when you do it like this - its just noise without any meaningful disctinction. (EDIT: Ha, I just saw the two 60+ reviews on the frontpage now!)As I also pointed out, I have no idea what GT stands for right now, if anything. For lack of better words, to me the site's frontpage lacks personality, so I never go there.

Looking at the posting stats though, it doesnt look good. 2500 posts vs 5000 last years december? The forum activity IS declining.

I would like to address this as I had actually had a very similar opinion of the site. I would be in the habit of hitting the front page real quick, skimming and seeing just one or two announcements a day and jumping right to the forums. I the last few weeks however, I have seen LOTS more content being posted. We still have the standard announcements, but serveral new opinion pieces are showing up on a regular basis now. Even the announcement fluff sounds like there's more personality being written into them. If this continues, I can see this easily turning into a site that I read rather than skim.

As for the forums, I wouldn't bother worrying about them really. The front page is where the money is made and that's where the time and effort needs to be focused. My only suggestion would be integration between the forums and the comment system. Needing a separate account sucks, and having them tie together might draw more new people into the forums.

Finally, a personal note of appreciation for the extra work going into the site lately; I at least have noticed and am enjoying it. Keep it up guys!

Also keep in mind that lots of us in this community have been together now for damn near 10 years (crazy).

If we go back to GG, even longer. It's amazing.

Quote

This is both a blessing (I love this place and consider GT my online family) and a curse (we're not as accepting of new folks as we need to be because we're set in our ways and know each other pretty well).

I haven't seen this I don't think. I don't recall anyone ever running anyone who's new off...

Quote

I know I don't post as much anymore simply because gaming as a hobby is starting to pass me by.

I feel the exact same way and it does seem that a lot of the old blood has stopped posting and moved on or retired. Maybe that's just cyclical. Note that this thread was originally posted in 2006. But where are all the new kids? Maybe they consume the information they want about gaming in different ways than websites now?

That said, and I don't know about anyone else: what draws me to game review sites is the personality.

I came to GoneGold because it was a new release site, but I stayed because of Rich LaPorte (the forums were a happy bonus).

Today, I follow GiantBomb because I knew of Jeff Gerstmann and trusted his reviews. When he left Gamespot over Gerstmanngate, I went with him and never went back to Gamespot. When Ryan Davis jumped ship I was ecstatic because he was probably my favorite of the GS personalities + he and Jeff have great chemistry and have been friends for years. Ditto Vinny Caravella (and to a lesser degree Brad). I liked Patrick from his days on 1up, but he's probably my least favorite of that core crew though as a news guy he's pretty brilliant.

I think I bought four to five games last year, but I did not miss a single Bombcast. Why? Because I care about the guys doing it. Also, I think GB is one of the neatest fully featured sites on the web. That said, I hardly ever post on their forums...

For a while I was a close follower of CheapAssGamer. Why? Cheapy D and Wombat. When they added Shipwreck it ruined the chemistry and I stopped listening to the podcast and gave up on the site.

For me it's all about personality and getting attached to the owners of the site and their unique voice...and I don't know much about KD or Fool or as Razgon says 'what they stand for'.

I still read everything, every day. I don't post as much as I used to back in the day mostly because the site is blocked by Websense at work. There's Tapatalk, but it's not ideal on my old phone. Also, I've become more and more of a consumer as I've gotten older. Anecdotal, but there it is.

I'm happy and read every day. Do I post on every topic? Nope and I have no desire. If a thread grabs my attention I post if not I don't.

Honestly, I think the forums are fine, but that's just me. I surf between, GT, OO, The Verge and Polygon and the latter two I have no interest in posting regularly or reading the forums on a daily basis.

Again, that's just me. I like quality of poster here.. quantity don't mean shit to me

I haven't seen this I don't think. I don't recall anyone ever running anyone who's new off...

We've never run anyone off (except Zeke, who deserved it ), but I think it's tough for new folks to get integrated into an established community of grizzled old fogies. This forum also trends significantly older than the standard gamer demographic, which is frankly one of the reasons I still post here (same with OO).

Quote from: WarPig on January 17, 2013, 02:19:10 PM

There's Tapatalk, but it's not ideal on my old phone.

Speaking of Tapatalk, I refuse to visit GT on my phone any more because I get three separate Tapatalk popups every time I navigate to a new page. It's annoying as hell, and keeps me away from GT when I'm mobile.

For the record, I don't even really know what Tapatalk does, but on principle I'm not going to pay $3 for an app just to get rid of pop-up windows. I'll just not post instead. /grumpy old man mode off

Given the amount of time, effort, and money I and others put into this place, posts like this just break my heart. I really don't know what to do other than more - write more reviews, write more articles, write more news. We've got big plans for 2013 and it's my hope that folks take a moment to see it. Honestly, the forums baffle the hell out of me. For instance, when we post up more videos than GameTrailers.com and then somebody comes in the next day and links to some other site rather than taking a second to look at the work we put in, it just stings. When it happens nearly all of the time it just makes me completely confused. I'd gladly take suggestions on how to make it better.

Don't think of us as your customers; think of us as your poker buddies. As people mentioned earlier, this community has been around for just about 15 years. Most of us were here when GT was Console Gold, and even before that. We're your poker buddies who want to have a drink with you every week and want your entrepreneurial endeavor to succeed, even if we aren't always the ones to step into your store and buy something.

Here's the thing, though. We decided to be your poker buddies. When the LaPorte Event happened, some people landed at OO and some landed here. Sure, a lot of people maintained a presence at both, but I think even those people generally had one place they thought of as their primary place. There's something about the way you ran your site and your forum that makes the people that are here prefer it to OO, Qt3, GwJ, or umpteen other places they could go.

Sadly, the forums have quieted down over the years. Some people move on just because their life shifted their time away for gaming, others moved on to other forums either because they found a better match for their personality, or because they wanted someplace more active. For the latter reason, it snowballs a bit because the more people who leave because of forum inactivity the more inactive it gets.

For me personally, GT is still the first forum I click on when I sit down to do some foruming. It's still my favorite forum on the citadel. But sadly, it's too inactive for me. People aren't always talking about the games or topics I want to talk about. When I or someone else writes up a post about something and get no replies, it's disheartening. It takes time to write something out, and if nobody is reading it, what's the point? But there are still discussions that do get some steam behind them here, and that's why I keep coming here first.

But back to the forum & front page divide. Who is your target audience? I don't think it's us, and it doesn't necessarily have to be. Mike said that front page traffic is climbing, so you are resonating with some audience. If you do want us forumers to be your target audience, I think you need to shift the focus of the main site. But then you might lose those other viewers you're gaining.

Honestly, for the front page, you gotta pick your vision for the site and run with it. Do you want it to be a be-all site like IGN? Do you want it to be filled with articles and investigative journalism like PA Report? Pick a vision, make a mission statement, whatever it takes. When you get questions in your head like "Should we run this article on this porn game?" you shouldn't have to look to us for the answer. Does it fit with the site vision & direction, yes or no? That answer should be clear.

To wrap up this wall of text, here's an idea for helping forum health. You've got us Gone Gold guys, and you've got your new blood going to the main site. These are two different groups. So how about structuring the forum to support two different groups? Have the main area of the forum be for the new blood, have articles and reviews link to that area, and give your new readership a place to coalesce and talk. For us? Give us the VIP lounge in the back to keep on talking like old friends. Let the new people develop their own forum culture. Maybe us old people contribute to the new blood discussions, maybe we invite some new people over to the VIP lounge.

I'll pop in from time to time forum-side to join in discussions about a new (or specific) game or to visit particular threads in the Off-Topic forum, but I definitely visit less frequently than I did before. And I also ashamedly admit to being one of the "front page skippers". You guys undeniably put a lot of effort into it but aside from reading Ron's take on a game I'm interested in (as alerted by him from the forum side), I just don't find myself utilizing it much.

Since most of us have kind of spread out after Gone Gold, this is one of the last places where there's still a good connection to that community. I very much appreciate that. Compared to the alternatives, the GT forums are a more reasonable place, that tends to be a lot less snarky and mean spirited.

Given the amount of time, effort, and money I and others put into this place, posts like this just break my heart. I really don't know what to do other than more - write more reviews, write more articles, write more news. We've got big plans for 2013 and it's my hope that folks take a moment to see it. Honestly, the forums baffle the hell out of me. For instance, when we post up more videos than GameTrailers.com and then somebody comes in the next day and links to some other site rather than taking a second to look at the work we put in, it just stings. When it happens nearly all of the time it just makes me completely confused. I'd gladly take suggestions on how to make it better.

Don't think of us as your customers; think of us as your poker buddies. As people mentioned earlier, this community has been around for just about 15 years. Most of us were here when GT was Console Gold, and even before that. We're your poker buddies who want to have a drink with you every week and want your entrepreneurial endeavor to succeed, even if we aren't always the ones to step into your store and buy something.

Here's the thing, though. We decided to be your poker buddies. When the LaPorte Event happened, some people landed at OO and some landed here. Sure, a lot of people maintained a presence at both, but I think even those people generally had one place they thought of as their primary place. There's something about the way you ran your site and your forum that makes the people that are here prefer it to OO, Qt3, GwJ, or umpteen other places they could go.

Sadly, the forums have quieted down over the years. Some people move on just because their life shifted their time away for gaming, others moved on to other forums either because they found a better match for their personality, or because they wanted someplace more active. For the latter reason, it snowballs a bit because the more people who leave because of forum inactivity the more inactive it gets.

For me personally, GT is still the first forum I click on when I sit down to do some foruming. It's still my favorite forum on the citadel. But sadly, it's too inactive for me. People aren't always talking about the games or topics I want to talk about. When I or someone else writes up a post about something and get no replies, it's disheartening. It takes time to write something out, and if nobody is reading it, what's the point? But there are still discussions that do get some steam behind them here, and that's why I keep coming here first.

But back to the forum & front page divide. Who is your target audience? I don't think it's us, and it doesn't necessarily have to be. Mike said that front page traffic is climbing, so you are resonating with some audience. If you do want us forumers to be your target audience, I think you need to shift the focus of the main site. But then you might lose those other viewers you're gaining.

Honestly, for the front page, you gotta pick your vision for the site and run with it. Do you want it to be a be-all site like IGN? Do you want it to be filled with articles and investigative journalism like PA Report? Pick a vision, make a mission statement, whatever it takes. When you get questions in your head like "Should we run this article on this porn game?" you shouldn't have to look to us for the answer. Does it fit with the site vision & direction, yes or no? That answer should be clear.

To wrap up this wall of text, here's an idea for helping forum health. You've got us Gone Gold guys, and you've got your new blood going to the main site. These are two different groups. So how about structuring the forum to support two different groups? Have the main area of the forum be for the new blood, have articles and reviews link to that area, and give your new readership a place to coalesce and talk. For us? Give us the VIP lounge in the back to keep on talking like old friends. Let the new people develop their own forum culture. Maybe us old people contribute to the new blood discussions, maybe we invite some new people over to the VIP lounge.

I don't know about the VIP lounge idea, as that will die off even faster. Personally, I welcome new folks and think this site's forum is way more inviting than a lot of places. I think the idea of direct links from the front page (or even a way for the forum discussion to be displayed under an article, if that's possible) would be a great idea.

I don't know about the VIP lounge idea, as that will die off even faster. Personally, I welcome new folks and think this site's forum is way more inviting than a lot of places. I think the idea of direct links from the front page (or even a way for the forum discussion to be displayed under an article, if that's possible) would be a great idea.

When I say VIP lounge, I mean the current forums as-is. We don't really get any new blood here, ever, so mainly I'm just talking about letting us do our thing while Ron also gets to build a forum area for main site visitors.

For instance, Ron's butted heads with us old guard people in the past over linking to GT articles in the forums without saying anything about the article or review in the post, or he gets heat for pushing social media integration, etc. But what if those things are what he needs to grow his readership? By giving us our little corner, he can do whatever he needs to keep supporting his site growth without us fuddy duddies complaining.

I've certainly noticed the decline in forum traffic. as mentioned by others, I post less now because topics I would create or join we're getting fewer and fewer responses.

The bottom line is there really is nothing else the administrators and moderators of this site can do to increase traffic by any significant margin. GT is well designed, easy to navigate, and a ton of content gets posted. It is up to the forum veterans to make a commitment to the site and simply BEGIN POSTING MORE. A dozen more truly active people with good personalities can make a huge difference in the atmosphere of a forum. I'll do my best to become one of the "dirty dozen"!

Having said that, I'm glad Gaming Trend isn't like Neogaf. I hate reading 15 pages of one or two word posts to get to the three or four interesting comments in a topic.

fwiw, while I'm still posting now and then about movies and TV shows, I'm really just not gaming much these days beyond some simple puzzle things on iOS. I've sort of given up on MMOs, and that's mostly what I've been excitedly posting here about over the years, along with Diablo-type games.

I don't know if it's so much age (I'm 47), as much as having been gaming as long as I have (since late 1992, I'd say), you just see certain genres and game types done over and over and over and over and over and over and over... and eventually it's just tough to get excited about any games on any platform.

I've joked that I really need that memory-eraser gizmo from the MIB movies. Just wipe out my historical knowledge of gaming on all platforms, and just be able to feel excited about the industry today.

I hate how I feel about gaming now. I want to feel as excited as I was in just about any year in the 1990s. I want to be as addicted I was to City of Heroes 2004-2006, or LOTRO 2007-2008, or even Star Trek Online for a time (2009) and SWTOR (for a much shorter period than I anticipated). I find a gem now and then on Steam, and only find my interest lasting a short period.

A year ago I was probably posting a dozen times a day about SWTOR. I loved being excited that much about a game and sharing that here. I would leave to feel that way again. I just don't.

I don't perhaps post as much as I used to, but I appreciate this place all the same. It's the people that make it what it is.

There was one forum I used to frequent long ago, that ended up being a graveyard, mostly because the forum was filled with direct links to articles from their main site, and it started feeling more clinical and less like a discussion place. And then there was one person who kept posting new threads with just links to articles around the net and nothing to describe them. You could say he was active, but it detracted from the appeal of the site and didn't encourage discussion. In the end, because of the lack of activity, they've removed the forums and are more focused on members commenting blog style, which yet again doesn't exactly encourage community.

I don't know about the VIP lounge idea, as that will die off even faster. Personally, I welcome new folks and think this site's forum is way more inviting than a lot of places. I think the idea of direct links from the front page (or even a way for the forum discussion to be displayed under an article, if that's possible) would be a great idea.

When I say VIP lounge, I mean the current forums as-is. We don't really get any new blood here, ever, so mainly I'm just talking about letting us do our thing while Ron also gets to build a forum area for main site visitors.

For instance, Ron's butted heads with us old guard people in the past over linking to GT articles in the forums without saying anything about the article or review in the post, or he gets heat for pushing social media integration, etc. But what if those things are what he needs to grow his readership? By giving us our little corner, he can do whatever he needs to keep supporting his site growth without us fuddy duddies complaining.

I knew what you meant by VIP lounge, but I don't think it's going to solve the problem. I do think that the site needs the things you mentioned in the second paragraph to grow readership. By expanding the number of people posting here, the whole thing will grow. Fresh blood will only make it more interesting and bring more posts and more comments. Dumping the new guys into their own section (or dumping us into our own) will keep either from growing, really.

The reason this thread was started was because of the drop in posts. Dumping us old-timers into a corner of the site certainly isn't going to increase it. And it seems forum traffic is doing fine. So clearly, folks are reading and just not posting. We need to entice folks to post as well to keep the place alive.

I knew what you meant by VIP lounge, but I don't think it's going to solve the problem. I do think that the site needs the things you mentioned in the second paragraph to grow readership. By expanding the number of people posting here, the whole thing will grow. Fresh blood will only make it more interesting and bring more posts and more comments. Dumping the new guys into their own section (or dumping us into our own) will keep either from growing, really.

The reason this thread was started was because of the drop in posts. Dumping us old-timers into a corner of the site certainly isn't going to increase it. And it seems forum traffic is doing fine. So clearly, folks are reading and just not posting. We need to entice folks to post as well to keep the place alive.

I get what you're saying, and you may be right. I guess I can't put my finger on why new people don't want to join us. The idea of sequestering us existing forumers was based on the idea that maybe we seem to cliquey for new blood to want to join in.

Fresh blood will only make it more interesting and bring more posts and more comments...We need to entice folks to post as well to keep the place alive.

Not necessarily. GT is a very unique and (imo) rare gaming community. For the most part, we are mature, respectful, literate, knowledgable, etc. That's not something you see every day, especially among a gamer crowd.

Been to most of the big gaming sites' forums lately? I'd prefer we never need have to deal with sort of ridiculous fanboy bullshit here.

Fresh blood will only make it more interesting and bring more posts and more comments...We need to entice folks to post as well to keep the place alive.

Not necessarily. GT is a very unique and (imo) rare gaming community. For the most part, we are mature, respectful, literate, knowledgable, etc. That's not something you see every day, especially among a gamer crowd.

Been to most of the big gaming sites' forums lately? I'd prefer we never need have to deal with sort of ridiculous fanboy bullshit here.